Tenn. Train Tragedy Possibly Averted

Published 6:00 pm, Thursday, November 7, 2002

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) _ A railroad engineer stopped a sightseeing train after noticing tampered-with tracks that could have sent the train and its 400 passengers off a bridge, officials said.

Nashville & Eastern Railroad engineer Brent Thompson was in the cabin of the fall-foliage excursion train when he spotted extra tie plates wedged against the rails, the company said.

Officials said the plates _ which are normally used to stabilize tracks _ could have plunged the train into the river below.

"It was like a ramp that was used to get the wheels off the rails," said Craig Wade, vice president and general manager of the rail company. "There's no doubt in our mind that it was a deliberate try to derail the train."

No one has been arrested in the Oct. 26 incident in rural Smith County, about 45 miles east of Nashville.